Words from Grace
Right where you are in this moment,
even all this imperfection and mess and steps still to take -
is exactly where you are supposed to be.
In addition to all that is happening to prepare for five day return after vacation, I very much appreciate the thinking you exhibited during Tuesday's region meeting on taking a serious look at the 2020-21 Priority Standards in order to end the year with a strong focus. I reviewed the JamBoard and am impressed by the thinking you displayed in each group. I also had the opportunity to observe Courtney using this document with her leadership team and Karen Loughran shared her slides and an artifact from professional development with staff on Wednesday afternoon.
I'm really proud of you all for focusing on teaching/learning during this continued challenging time when tents, ACCESS testing, Special Education Reviews, MyWay Cafe, transportation, and when we will know more about MCAS administration are all top of mind. These operational challenges will continue to chip away from your focus, but it is also imperative that we keep our eye on instruction as well.
At the conclusion of our region meeting, the ask was to start planning for next year. I am in the process of asking for support to plan for 2021-22 school professional development along with cycles of inquiry/assessment/data. This coming Tuesday, Region 2 (Mary Driscoll) will be joining us for a chat with Dr. Cassellius. Be ready with questions!
Important Dates
April 19 - Patriot’s Day - No School
April 20 - 23 - Spring Recess - No School
May 31 - Memorial Day - No School
June 18 - Last Day of School
Office of the Superintendent
Gallery Eyecare - 700 Blue Light Filtering Glasses Still Available
Gallery Eyecare would like School Leaders of all BPS schools to let your families know that these glasses are available. Students will receive free Blue Light Filtering Lenses and frames from a limited selection (video link). Because of the limited number of glasses, interested students/parents should contact Hugo Medeiros at hmed@bu.edu. He is an intern at Gallery Eyecare and is handling the distribution.
Division of Academics
Expanding Inclusion and/or Inclusive Practices at Schools
The Office of Social Emotional (OSE) is looking for schools that are interested in expanding inclusion and/or inclusive practices in their buildings. There will be funds available for stipends for planning teams. Please complete the survey and see the brief timeline below:
April 9 - May 1: Schools complete short interest survey
May 1 - May 14: Follow up conversations with OSE staff
May 28: Schools will be notified confirming their participation
June/Summer/Fall: Planning committees get to work
Boston Back in Motion
Boston Back in Motion, a month-long campaign developed by local non-profits in partnership with BPS Moves Together, is an online toolkit and fitness challenge program to get young people in grades 1 through 8 engaged in daily movement. Boston Back in Motion will provide a fun, motivating experience for young people to get moving and engage in healthy choices throughout the month of April. The program is designed to encourage everyone to “show us your moves” and join in on social media as a class, with a small group of friends or simply by themselves individually. Please encourage students to sign up at BostonBackInMotion.com! Contact: Sravanthy Gumidyala, Physical Activity Program Coordinator
April SEL Signature Practices Calendar resource is now available!
Please check out the updated SEL Signature Practices Calendar on the SEL Instruction website! The purpose of the calendar is to provide a menu of SEL practices that can be modified and integrated into instructional planning each month for students to practice SEL skills while engaging in learning. Using these practices regularly provides opportunities for consistency, predictability, and relationship building. Contact: Carla Burley, Director of SEL Instruction
Collecting Intel on ILTs
The participatory action research conducted last year by the Teacher Leadership Working Group led to a report on the Status of Teacher Leadership in Boston that produced several recommendations. One of these recommendations was to "create guidance and share promising practices for structuring teacher leader roles," (p. 35). Now, our working group of teacher leaders and administrators is following up on this recommendation with an initial focus on Instructional Leadership Teams.
Our goal is to document and share ways ILTs are leveraging teacher leadership to support student learning and instructional improvement. The committee has explored the history of ILTs (which began in Boston in 1996), examined resources from across the nation (which you can explore here), and begun collecting data about the current status of ILTs throughout Boston's schools today. If you have questions, concerns or suggestions to share about ILTs, or are willing to be interviewed, please send us a note at bpsteacherleadership@bostonpublicschools.org. Stay tuned for updates. We hope to share good ideas with you in time for planning next year's ILTs.
FERPA Training for the School Leaders Registration
This spring ODA will provide mandatory FERPA training for School Leaders. You will learn FERPA, State, and BPS regulations about Protecting Student Privacy and Education Records. If you have not attended a previous FERPA Training, register for one of the spring sessions.
Registration form for FERPA Training
Panorama Weekly Update - Help Site Includes Updated Training Materials!
ODA has made major updates to the BPS Student Success Help Site, adding many new resources to the training materials page specifically. The site now offers numerous bite-sized resources, which directly address the most common questions about the Panorama Student Success platform. Choose from resources available in four formats:
Slides: suitable as “off the shelf” training materials for staff teams
Video tutorials: designed to offer staff a quick overview of key features
Help articles: step-by-step instructions that are especially useful as general reference materials
Worksheets: practice and apply your learning, individually or in a group
Division of Human Capital
Social Worker Positions
The Social Worker positions are now posted! Please remember the hiring process for this position will be slightly different from a typical job submission:
Please ensure your candidate has applied to the district wide Social Worker Pool posting.
We will share a list of approved candidates from the central office as they are screened. Please consult that running list of approved candidates and make sure your candidate is on this list before you submit them!
If you do not have anyone you are considering from your school's post, you may reach out to the candidates from this list and encourage them to apply to your position.
Letters of Reasonable Assurance
OHC will be emailing letters of Reasonable Assurance to Provisional Teachers who were retained in a position for SY21-22 during Probable Org. at the end of this week.
We are aware that many of your non-renewed teachers are in the midst of the re-hiring process and may have already been submitted.
However, if the hire is not finalized, they will not receive this letter.
Additionally, they will not receive a Reasonable Assurance Letter when their hire is approved.
They will, however, receive an offer via TalentEd, which serves as their job confirmation for the following school year.
Paraprofessional Pay Frequency
Paraprofessionals who would like to change their pay frequency from 22-paychecks to 26-paychecks may submit by June 1st. Here's the form.
Division of Operations
Fire Drill/Evacuation Requirements (updated 4/6/21)
During these challenging times, we are still required to conduct mandatory drills. As we return to school buildings, all occupants will need to familiarize themselves with their evacuation plans. This includes all phases of reentry into school buildings. All students must engage in four fire drills per year; this may translate to eight drills total to ensure that students in both A and B cohorts have four opportunities to practice evacuation.
IMPORTANT DEADLINE INFORMATION - March Fire Drill Requirement
The next Fire Drill is DUE no later than March 31, 2021. Per the current reopening plan please note that you will need to complete more than one drill to accommodate cohort A and B within the month of March.
ALL GRADES are now in buildings. If you have not done so already, PLEASE schedule your fire drill for each cohort between the dates of April 6 and April 30.
*For further guidance please access the updated FSE-02 Superintendent’s Circular here.
During evacuation drills all students and staff will need to wear their PPE and move through the building as quickly as possible (without running). Exiting the building in a timely fashion is the highest priority to ensure that each school community has practiced the proper response in the event of an actual emergency. While exiting, individuals should attempt to maintain a reasonable distance from each other. When they arrive at their designated meeting spots all students and staff should socially distance themselves in compliance with current state guidelines. Please see link below to memorandum from State Fire Marshal, School Emergency Planning and COVID-19, dated July 29, 2020, for further guidance: https://www.mass.gov/doc/school-emergency-planning-and-covid-19/download
Safe Mode Requirements
During these difficult times, we should still be prepared for any type of emergency that might occur. In order to be prepared to respond to an emergency, teachers and staff should practice Safe Mode drills WITHOUT their students to support current COVID19 protocol. Staff should identify the safe place in their rooms that they would move to should an emergency occur and be able to articulate this to their students during a real event. All staff and teachers should plan and be prepared to go into Safe Mode if it is required.
IMPORTANT DEADLINE INFORMATION for current requirement:
Safe Mode Drills were DUE no later than January 29, 2021. If you have not completed this drill, please complete WITH STAFF ONLY not later than March 31, 2021.
If at anytime you feel you need support to develop a plan or conduct a drill, please do not hesitate to reach out to Rick Deraney at rderaney@bostonpublicschools.org or 617-212-2397
*For further guidance please access the updated FSE-08 Superintendent’s Circular here.
Division of Student, Family, and Community Advancement
Reimagine Multilingual Learning: BTU Conversation
Date and Time: 4:30 PM-6:00 PM on Tuesday, April 23, 2021
The BPS Office of English Learners has launched a series of community dialogues as we work to reimagine multilingual learning for bilingual students in BPS. Please join us for a conversation with the BTU to share feedback on the Roadmap for Quality Education for Multilingual Learning. For more info & to register: http://bostonpublicschools.org/oel. If you are not able to attend a meeting, please use this survey to give us your input on what kind of changes you would like to see.
See link to flyer here Reimagine Multilingual Learning_ BTU Conversation
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